


return him to the sea

by BestDeadFriendsForever



Series: pirates don't make good nursemaids-verse [5]
Category: Black Sails
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, James Flint is bisexual and y'all can fight me on it, Kid Fic, M/M, Marcus is probably almost a year old, Multi, OT3, Threesome - F/M/M, Tommy calls James Papa and Thomas Father, Tommy is four
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-27 01:01:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18293672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BestDeadFriendsForever/pseuds/BestDeadFriendsForever
Summary: James goes back to the ocean, leaving his family behind for the first long voyage since Thomas's return.





	return him to the sea

            Thomas was supposed to be helping Miranda with dinner by chopping the vegetables, but Tommy had come in from playing, took hold of James’s hand, and Thomas’s focus had been pulled along with James out the door. He could see through the window that Tommy was standing, pointing to something and making grand gestures, and James was kneeling in the yard next to him and listening to whatever the boy was saying with rapt attention. The sight warmed Thomas’s heart and he couldn’t help but smile, especially when James scooped Tommy up and they walked off to investigate whatever it was Tommy had been so keen on showing James.

            “You’re supposed to be _helping_ ,” Miranda teased and swatted at his hip with her towel.

            “Sorry,” Thomas said sheepishly and went quickly back to his task. His eyes strayed back up to the window but both of them were still out of sight. “James is good with him,” Thomas said, aiming for nonchalance while actually fishing for more knowledge of the time when they’d been separated. It’d been nearly a year since Thomas had been reunited with his family, but still James and Miranda insisted on focusing on their life now instead of what had once been.

            “He wasn’t always,” Miranda said and moved to take some of the vegetables to chop herself.

            “What do you mean?” Thomas asked.

            Miranda chewed her lip, as if deliberating on whether to tell Thomas or not, then she spoke again. “For months after he was born, James refused to hold him.” Thomas blinked. Thomas couldn’t reconcile that thought with the way Tommy clung to James like a baby monkey and the adoration in James’s face when the boy did so. “Things were very different then. I think it was painful for James to look at him and see your face looking back at him. So I didn’t begrudge him the aversion at first,” Miranda said with a shrug, “but then he took longer journeys and even when he was in Nassau, he didn’t always come home. He was hiding from us." Miranda sounded a little stung, so Thomas covered her hand. "Then, one night he came home, obviously drunk, and I went out to get some water. When I came back, James was in the nursery with him. I don’t know why he went in there, Tommy must have started crying, but there he was with Tommy bundled in his arms. After that night, it was hard to get James to put him down.” Miranda laughed. “Other than when James as at sea, they were always at each other’s side.”

            Thomas thought about James carrying Tommy on his hip through Nassau despite knowing James would never. But something in him couldn’t help but laugh at the picture of the dread pirate Captain Flint with their rosy-cheeked little boy in his arms.

            “They’d make a rather… charming picture,” Miranda said, smiling as if she knew precisely what he was thinking.

            “Who?” They’d been so engrossed in their conversation they hadn’t heard James come inside.

            “Mr. and Mrs. Underhill,” Miranda lied smoothly, “at church on Sunday. Not that you would know.”

            James rolled his eyes, as he usually did at the mention of church, before he set Tommy down. “Go wash your hands for supper.”

            Tommy looked like he wanted to argue but a raised eyebrow from James had him going to the wash basin with an obedient, “yes, Papa”. James came over and kissed both their cheeks before he took off his coat and headed down to the nursery where Marcus would soon be waking up from his nap.

            They finished up with the vegetables and Thomas smiled as he heard James’s voice, words indistinguishable but audible and impossibly soft, drifted down the hall moments before he came out with Marcus settled against his chest. Thomas didn’t realize how intently he’d been staring until James shifted self-consciously. “What?”

            “Nothing, love,” Thomas said.

            James nodded, though his ears were flushed pink, and shifted his hold on Marcus as the boy woke up more and started to squirm around. Thomas moved over to kiss James and then to press a smacking kiss to Marcus’s cheek.

…..

            It wasn’t the first time that James had gone back to the sea since Thomas had come home, but it was his longest planned journey. At first, he hadn’t wanted to leave Thomas, and then Marcus had been born. But now, Gates had come to insist that James come back to the sea so that he could become Captain Flint once more.

            James was standing at the railing and watching Nassau become smaller and smaller in the distance as they made their way out in pursuit of a lead. Richard Guthrie’s young daughter had taken over her father’s business and her leads were, frankly, much better. Gates had managed to weasel a nice, easy prize from her so that Flint could take the prize, satisfy the men, and then quickly return to his loves and his children. Gates, despite having neither lover nor children, unless one counted the unruly crew and in all honesty everyone did including the crew themselves, was considerate that way.

            Gates made his way over and leaned against the railing next to James. “They’ll be alright without you.”

            James just hummed and kept his eyes on where Nassau had finally thinned into nothing on the horizon.

            “They’re not goin’ anywhere,” Gates said and clapped his hand down onto James’s shoulder. “Now c’mon. You keep standin’ here mopin’ and the men’ll think you’ve gone soft.” James snorted as he straightened up and finally pull his attention away from the horizon.

            “Neither you nor they will be rid of me that easy,” James said and let the mantle of Flint slide into place. He gave Gates a sharp smile and Gates grinned back as he patted Flint’s shoulder roughly.

            “Wouldn’t dream of it, Captain.”

…..

            Taking the prize had proven just a smidge more difficult than they’d anticipated. Flint cut through most of the men that dared to attack him but one got in a lucky shot from afar. It was a hell of a shot that went through the flesh just above his collarbone.

            It knocked the air out of him and he stumbled back, nearly slipping in the blood that coated the deck. Before the man could let loose another shot, Gates was shooting him through the temple.

            Flint’s breathing hitched and he scowled at where blood was dripping down his chest. He pressed his hand to the wound, swaying a little in place, before he swept his eyes over the ship. His crew was subduing the last of the enemy crew and he nodded, despite the way it made his vision spin, approvingly. He staggered toward the captain’s cabin to go about finding the inventory so he and Gates could talk about what they would take to sell to Miss Guthrie.

            “You’re going to have the doctor look at that before you do any of that,” Gates said, obviously reading his mind.

            “It’s fine,” Flint muttered and waved his free hand dismissively.

            “Shut up and do as you’re told,” Gates said with a scowl before he leaned in and lowered his voice. “You’ve got little ones that’re dependin’ on you to get back in one piece. You rememberin’ that?”

            Flint felt a flash of guilt. He hadn’t been considering Tommy and Marcus and now their faces appeared unbidden. He ducked his head and nodded mutely. “Call the doctor in here. We can multitask.”

            Gates muttered something under his breath with an air of irritation but he just nodded and went to fetch the doctor as Flint opened the door and made his way inside so he could collapse into the chair behind the desk.

            Gates brought the doctor in and the doctor tsked as he examined Flint’s shoulder. “This’ll need to be sewn.”

            Flint tried not to flinch as the doctor prodded at the wound in his shoulder. He ignored it in favor of looking over the inventory that Gates had expertly plucked from the Captain’s bookshelf. They went through it and decided what should be kept and what could be left alone. Flint let out a startled yelp when the doctor poured gin over his wound.

            “I have to disinfect the wound before sewing you up,” he said gruffly. His eyes were sharp and Flint had the feeling that he wasn’t sorry in the slightest.

            “Get on with it,” Flint said through gritted teeth. He forced his mind back to the task of the calculations for weight that he and Gates had to figure.

            When the doctor stepped away, Flint registered the dull pain in his shoulder from the repetitive tug of the needle through flesh. Flint nodded in some semblance of gratitude as the doctor gathered his tools and left.

            “Why do I have a feeling that that family of yours is gonna come after me?” Gates asked as he settled his hip against the side of the desk.

            “Who says they’re going to know?” Flint mumbled, mostly to himself.

            “You really gonna try and _lie_ about it?” Gates scoffed.

            “It should be healed up nicely by the time we get back to Nassau. We still have quite a bit of voyage ahead of us if I remember our course correctly,” Flint said dryly and looked up to Gates with an arched eyebrow.

            “I’m just sayin’ that if that woman o’ yours comes after me, I’m man enough to admit that the thought scares me.” Gates shrugged and held up his hands. Flint couldn’t help but grin at that thought of Miranda chasing Gates through Nassau town with one of their kitchen knives. Or maybe she’d snag the pistol Flint left with them whenever he went to sea. “That look right there, it certainly isn’t convincin’ me of anythin’.”

            “Let me handle my family, Mr. Gates.”

            “As if you can,” Gates snorted and left before Flint could come up with a witty retort.

…..

            James sighed heavily as he made his way back to the house. He was worn through from the long voyage at sea and he felt his hands trembling slightly as he heard Thomas call his name. He lifted his head and forced a smile onto his face.

            “Papa!” Tommy said and James immediately dropped to his knees so that Tommy could throw himself into his arms. He hadn’t been accounting for his wound and when both Tommy’s shoulder and then hand collided with it, with startling accuracy, he couldn’t suppress the sharp hiss of breath and full body wince.

            Tommy’s eyes widened and he pulled his hands away from James like he’d been burned. Before the boy could open his mouth to start asking questions, Thomas spoke up. “Tommy, why don’t you run down to Mrs. Brown’s and tell your Mama that Papa is back.” Tommy looked at Thomas with a trembling lower lip and Thomas just smiled at him reassuringly. Tommy trotted off, looking back at them over his shoulder a few times, and Thomas was silent until Tommy was gone.

            “What happened?” Thomas asked wearily.

            “Nothing that won’t heal,” James said and he stood. “Is Marcus with Miranda?”

            “No, he’s napping,” Thomas said and James nodded before brushing past him. “Don’t wake him up.”

            “I won’t. I’m just… checking on him,” James said and he could see that Thomas wanted to argue. The furrow between his brows and the way he sucked in a breath gave it away. But then he didn’t say anything and he didn’t follow James into the back bedroom where the boys shared a room.

            Marcus was, in fact, asleep, but just seeing him curled up with his fist in his mouth settled something in James. He made his way over to the crib as quietly as his heavy boots would allow. Marcus merely snuffled a little and his legs twitched slightly in his sleep. James leaned over and brushed the lightest kiss to the crown of Marcus’s head before he stepped away to finally face Thomas.

            Thomas was sitting at the table with his eyes fixed firmly on James the moment he stepped out of the room and gently closed the door behind him. “What happened?” Thomas repeated patiently as if he were talking to Tommy.

            James let out a heavy sigh. “I was shot, Thomas. It was nothing serious and there was no use in worrying you or Miranda or Tommy over it.” Thomas’s hands were fists where he was pressing them into his thighs.

            James expected an impassioned argument or lecture, but all he got was Thomas’s fists unclenching and Thomas walking over to pull him into a kiss. James was startled for a moment but then he melted into it, his hand coming up to press against Thomas’s hip. Thomas pulled away but stayed close, his hands cradling James’s face.

            “You must be tired,” Thomas said and swiped his thumb over James’s cheekbone.

            “Very,” James said quietly and just leaned into Thomas more.

            “Then let’s get you into bed.”

            They made their way into their bedroom and Thomas helped James out of his shirt so he could be more comfortable. He fell into bed and Thomas brushed another quick kiss to his forehead before James fell asleep.

…..

            Miranda had excused herself the moment Tommy had rushed into Mrs. Brown’s sitting room and announced that James was back. She knew that if Thomas was sending their son for her, something must have happened that Thomas didn’t want Tommy to be privy to. Miranda thanked Mrs. Brown politely and promised to have the other woman around so that she could see how Marcus had grown.

            She took Tommy’s hand and together they walked down the dusty road towards the house. He was uncharacteristically quiet, his usual excitable chatter gone as he kept his eyes on his feet. “Everything alright?” Miranda asked him and gently tugged at his hand.

            “Yeah…” he said quietly and Miranda didn’t push it despite knowing that something was bothering him.

            When they got home, Thomas was in the kitchen with Marcus, cradling the boy against his chest and rocking on his feet as he went about making some tea. “He’s sleeping,” Thomas said before Miranda could even ask. Miranda moved over and took Marcus from Thomas’s arms so he didn’t have to try to balance the boy in his arms while pouring hot water from the kettle.

            She pressed a kiss to Marcus’s cheek when he pressed his cheek into hers. He gurgled happily into her shoulder as he gripped onto the edges of her shawl. “Is he-”

            “Perfectly fine,” Thomas said and waved his hand before he sipped at his tea. “I’m sure he’ll be up in a little while. He’s never been able to sleep much during the day.”

            “Or at night,” Miranda huffed fondly before moving to sit so she could shift Marcus around. The boy was content to lean his back against her chest and play with her shawl once she slipped it from her shoulders and settled it onto the table.

            Thomas hummed and he moved to fix a cup of tea for Miranda as well. He settled it in front of her and she smiled in thanks before glancing into the sitting room where Tommy was sitting and playing with the carved ships and men that Mr. Gates had given him.

            “Tommy was terribly quiet today,” Miranda said so that the boy wouldn’t be able to hear them. “I thought it might have something to do with James coming home.”

            Thomas winced mid-sip and then settled his cup into its saucer. “Well…”

            Miranda’s heart picked up a little in her chest. “You said he was ‘perfectly fine’,” Miranda said with a scowl.

            “Perfectly might have been a stretch,” Thomas said and chewed his lip. “But he is fine, darling. I promise.” He reached out to cover her hand with a small smile.

            They both looked over at the familiar sound of shuffling feet and James was making his way out of the bedroom rubbing at his eyes. He looked like he’d cleaned himself up a bit. His hair was loose from the tie he usually kept it in, his face was devoid of the usual post-voyage grit and grime, and his shirt was crisp and fresh.

            “Afternoon,” Miranda said and smiled at him.

            He cracked a small smile at her and walked over to give her a kiss on the cheek. Marcus held out his arms for James and made grabby hands. “Da!” James’s smile grew as he took Marcus from Miranda’s lap. He winced a little when Marcus leaned all his weight to one side, and Miranda narrowed her eyes a little before cutting her glance towards Thomas. Thomas was pretending to be engrossed in pattern on the table. She decided she’d leave the two of them to their secrets and rolled her eyes.

            “Cup of tea?” She asked.

            “That would be lovely,” James said and sat down at the table with Marcus babbling happily to himself on James’s lap.

…..

            It wasn’t until they were all getting ready for bed, Thomas already having put Marcus down and James having been persuaded to read one last story to Tommy before he settled, that Miranda noticed what was wrong. She was already in her nightgown and was sitting at her vanity so she could tame her hair into a loose braid, when James came in to undress for bed.

            He pulled his shirt off and Miranda couldn’t help the quiet gasp that was pulled from her lips.

            Underneath his dark shirt had been bandages that were stained with blood.

            He turned to look at her and grimaced a little. “Miranda-”

            “Thomas!” She said sharply and looked to where Thomas was sitting in bed with a book. He had the decency to look apologetic.

            “I didn’t want to worry you,” James said placatingly. He moved to the bandages and unknotted them expertly. “It’s all old blood. I just hadn’t… gotten around to changing them.” When he peeled them away from his skin it was to a mostly healed wound. The skin around it was clean and was stitched, though obviously inexpertly with how crooked they were, but it still made Miranda’s stomach clench. “It looks much worse than it was.”

            “Stop,” she said, her voice strained. She knew he was trying to help, to reassure, but it wasn’t doing anything but making her feel much worse.

            “Darling,” Thomas said and with the shuffling of linen he was out of bed and rubbing her back.

            “This doesn’t bother you?” She asked and looked at Thomas.

            Thomas looked over at James and hesitated before he spoke. “It does,” he said carefully, “but we all know that what James does is dangerous.” Thomas gave her a weak smile. “I don’t think at this point it’s worth arguing over. He’s home and he’s whole and that’s what I shall thank God for.” Thomas pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before moving over to James. “Let’s get you some fresh bandages.”

            They left and Miranda had a moment to compose herself before she got into bed. She smoothed out the bedclothes and she felt calmer once they returned, James’s shoulder covered with a fresh set of bandages. The sight still made her feel off-balance, but it was less so than with all the blood.

            “Come here,” she said firmly and held out her hand for him.

            He bit his lip as he moved onto the bed so he was kneeling next to her. She pulled him in for a fierce kiss and he clung to her elbows as she held onto his upper arms. She pulled back and moved to brush a light kiss over the bandages before she pressed her forehead to his shoulder. She watched for a moment the way his chest moved with each breath he took. She pulled back and gave him a stern look. “Next time, you tell us. I’d rather be worried and take care of you than not know what’s happened. Am I understood?”

            “Perfectly clear, ma’am,” James said before he kissed her again softly.

            “Good,” she said against his mouth before shuffling over a little. He sent her a grin before he settled between where she was sitting up in bed and where Thomas’s book lay abandoned. Thomas picked it up and set it onto the side table before sliding in beside James. James’s injured shoulder was on her side so she was careful as she moved to lay down beside him.

            Once Thomas had blown out the light, James spoke. “I love you both. You know that, right?”

            “Of course we do,” Thomas said and Miranda could just barely make out where he was pressing a kiss to the curve of James’s arm where a crescent moon was colored into his skin. He seemed to sigh in relief before settling. “Goodnight.”

            “Goodnight, James,” Miranda said and shifted onto her side so that she was facing the both of them. The dim silver glow of the moon just barely came through the crack in the curtains and reflected off Thomas’s pale colored hair and a strip of James’s skin. She just watched as the two of them relaxed and then dropped off to sleep. She smiled and settled herself, letting her eyes drift shut.

**Author's Note:**

> So I finished the last season (for the first time because I was totally behind) and honestly I've got so much that I want to write. This had been lingering in my computer and I'm pretty pleased with how it ended up. There will most likely be more of this -verse and with more of the other characters in the series as well! Comments are motivation that I SORELY need!  
> -James


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